Despite loss of 'The Coach,' Hominick prepping for vintage form at UFC 140

Mark Hominick (20-9 MMA, 3-1 UFC) knows the storyline that will accompany his first trip to the octagon since his unsuccessful bid for Jose Aldo’s featherweight crown.

People will wonder whether his head is still in the game after the loss to Aldo followed by the bigger loss of his longtime coach and mentor Shawn Tompkins.

“There’s a lot of what-ifs, and I’m looking to silence any critics that are out there and make a performance that people look back and say in my division, ‘I don’t want to fight that guy,'” Hominick today told MMAjunkie.com Radio (www.mmajunkie.com/radio).

The Thamesford, Ontario, native on Dec. 10 meets Chan Sung Jung (11-3 MMA, 1-0 UFC) on the first pay-per-view bout of UFC 140, which takes place at Toronto’s Air Canada Centre. Preliminary bouts air live on ION TV and stream on Facebook.

The venue is just minutes from the Rogers Centre, where Hominick staged a late-fight rally against Aldo that electrified 55,000 fans in the co-main draw of the record-breaking UFC 129 event. Sporting a massive hematoma that threatened to put an end to the fight midway through the action, he came out a winner in the eyes of many fans despite falling short on scorecards.

Hominick, who welcomed a new daughter into the world two weeks after the fight, said the show of support was overwhelming.

“After that last fight, it was almost like a 15-year overnight success,” he said. “It was a big opportunity I got, and now it’s my responsibility to run with it.”

But Hominick will have to do so without the guidance of his longtime mentor. The Dec. 10 bout is the first time Hominick will fight without Tompkins in his corner. While he admits his training camp has been difficult, he said it’s brought the remaining members of his team closer.

“We’ve all had to pick up the pieces of his leadership,” he said. “With MMA, you have coaches in wrestling. You have coaches in jiu-jitsu. You have coaches in boxing, and so on and so forth. So the coaching staff is very similar, it’s just that the leader is not there. The guy who puts it all together and walks through fire with you.

For what Jung lacks in prestige, he makes up in the possibility of excitement. The South Korean has delivered just that in three appearances for the WEC and UFC, slugging it out last year in a “Fight of the Year” candidate with Leonard Garcia before getting knocked out by George Roop and later avenging the loss to Garcia with a submission win in March.

Prior to his loss to Aldo, Hominick had put together the most significant win streak in his professional career at five consecutive bouts. While Tompkins undoubtedly contributed to the achievement, he believes the team can continue to be successful and in doing so honor the man they simply called “The Coach.”

“It’s been tough, but we’ve all stepped up in our own way, and we’ve all really realized that we’ve got to man up here and build up his legacy,” Hominick said. “The way we do that is go out there and fight and win.”

Tompkins is nominated for “Best Coach” at Thursday’s 2011 World MMA Awards, as is Hominick for “Fight of the Year” and “Entrance of the Year” for the visually stunning walkout that featured his country’s flag and a storm of digital snow.

Hominick said he doesn’t even remember walking to the cage at the Rogers Centre but got goosebumps watching it later. When he walks this time around, there will be one less person beside him. But he will carry the memories of “Coach” close by.

MMAjunkie.com Radio broadcasts Monday-Friday at noon ET (9 a.m. PT) live from the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino’s Race & Sports Book. The show is hosted by Gorgeous George, MMAjunkie.com lead staff reporter John Morgan and producer Goze. For more information or to download past episodes, go to www.mmajunkie.com/radio.

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